Rita Karasartova
Rita Karasartova is a woman human rights defender and an expert in civic governance. She works for the Institute of Civic Analysis, a human rights organisation and a think tank. The organisation works to monitor the selection and rotation process within the Kyrgyzstani judiciary system. The woman human rights defender also provides independent legal expertise to local participatory governance. Rita Karasartova was one of the first women human rights defenders to start publicly covering issues within the law enforcement and judiciary systems in Kyrgyz language.
Human rights defenders (HRDs) in Kyrgyzstan are subjected to smear campaigns, attacks, intimidation, and harassment. Although there are no laws in place which directly target the work of HRDs, the legal system still does not offer protection for HRDs due to consistent corruption at all levels of government, the continuous practice of ill-treatment and torture with impunity, and the lack of independence of monitoring and oversight bodies.
